Table 1: Mean adjusted income by group for data scientists (adjusted by cost of living)
Group title Mean adjusted annual wage ($US) Total sampled
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only) 140874.61 220
Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing 134104.38 470
Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services 133074.99 1180
Oil and Gas Extraction 125823.84 160
Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation 125153.70 90
Water Transportation 125153.70 90
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 122877.17 130
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services 121425.76 2320
Support Activities for Mining 119155.20 80
Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers 118322.75 1900
Health and Personal Care Retailers 117759.38 120
Broadcasting and Content Providers 117529.05 1950
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing 116579.95 300
Nondepository Credit Intermediation 114424.21 2040
Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation 111329.04 1090
Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services 110263.41 8060
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities 109932.18 9530
Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 109448.10 1340
Information 108907.92 18920
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (5221 And 5223 only) 107986.16 6510
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences 107544.83 7370
Software Publishers 107474.43 5540
Scientific Research and Development Services 107087.75 7760
Rental and Leasing Services 107037.84 60
Publishing Industries 106797.84 6640
Chemical Manufacturing 106035.97 860
Other Insurance Related Activities 105618.74 1700
Management of Companies and Enterprises 105050.63 43260
Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing 104917.90 280
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities 104883.21 150
Computer Systems Design and Related Services 104652.38 19770
Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing 104610.47 350
Engineering Services 104477.90 3540
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods 104432.83 930
Telecommunications 104371.85 1960
Direct Insurance (except Life, Health, and Medical) Carriers 104101.63 2140
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers 103636.26 200
Retail Trade 103323.93 1390
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories 103070.80 90
Finance and Insurance 102526.03 24530
Couriers and Messengers 102479.73 180
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing 102397.27 220
Insurance Carriers 102068.20 7050
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages 101988.29 1160
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities 101986.74 5880
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing 101315.24 1840
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities 100912.95 10580
Personal and Laundry Services 100126.32 40
Manufacturing 99858.29 6190
Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities 99744.60 3230
Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only) 99307.45 200
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 99007.75 390
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals 98890.47 40
Wholesale Trade 98238.58 3940
Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods 98077.81 2320
Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers 98017.24 2000
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 97805.75 107840
Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 97325.81 90
Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only) 96744.13 80
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing 96607.18 490
Employment Services 96020.21 5470
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services 95802.07 4160
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services 95467.02 1320
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services 93745.73 10430
Machinery Manufacturing 93384.40 190
Other Miscellaneous Retailers 93130.92 160
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 93102.72 2860
All Other Ambulatory Health Care Services 92311.73 190
Construction 92263.21 140
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services 92209.65 200
Freight Transportation Arrangement 91857.20 40
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 91752.39 9300
Administrative and Support Services 91629.96 9280
Utilities 90754.88 760
Real Estate 90442.37 460
General Merchandise Retailers 90383.45 120
Newspaper Publishers 90131.99 80
Legal Services 89244.87 510
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers 86708.88 220
Transportation and Warehousing 86590.41 1010
Hospitals 84922.71 3420
Temporary Help Services 84889.04 3780
Support Activities for Transportation 84673.25 90
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 84435.17 3200
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4244 and 4248 only) 84026.03 160
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution 83171.10 220
Health Care and Social Assistance 83050.90 6480
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers 82729.43 950
Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media 82693.28 40
Business Support Services 82296.38 850
Ambulatory Health Care Services 81561.66 1670
Outpatient Care Centers 81315.85 410
Social Advocacy Organizations 80292.80 100
Grantmaking and Giving Services 80049.80 150
Food Manufacturing 79904.90 90
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools 79257.42 2600
Educational Services 79173.03 9020
Junior Colleges 78934.65 80
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations 77854.83 280
Other Services (except Public Administration) 77387.65 1490
Miscellaneous Manufacturing 77053.08 180
Home Health Care Services 77019.67 40
Office Administrative Services 76919.21 890
Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations 76688.96 1310
Motion Picture and Video Industries 73701.90 520
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 73444.65 180
Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries 73278.71 550
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation) 73034.79 760
Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding state and local schools and hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OES Designation) 72936.44 4980
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation) 72284.27 1630
Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Parts and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers 71093.88 120
Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing 71091.10 140
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries 70427.26 90
Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions 69909.84 80
Testing Laboratories and Services 69879.93 280
Elementary and Secondary Schools 68451.01 210
Offices of Physicians 67465.37 270
Individual and Family Services 66765.48 240
Plastics Product Manufacturing 65499.32 90
Educational Support Services 65401.75 120
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing 65095.32 100
Spectator Sports 62382.20 50
Social Assistance 61382.64 400
Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services 60941.20 90
Vocational Rehabilitation Services 57028.86 40
Food and Beverage Retailers 55414.72 70
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only) 55414.72 70
Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations 55066.48 60
Warehousing and Storage 51884.30 600
Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliance Retailers 48738.55 70
Furniture and Home Furnishings Retailers 48627.20 70

Data

I used the most recent data tables provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Research estimates by state and industry/all sectors). This data is derived from sample surveys, which are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. To take into consideration variations in cost of living from state to state, I adjusted salary values using the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) cost of living estimates for 2023. According to their website, MERIC arrives an the cost of living index by averaging the indices of cities and metropolitan areas in a state.

To conduct this analysis, I cleaned and joined these two data sets and filtered to only include observations where the occupational title is “Data Scientists”. I used the following variables:

I then calculated the mean adjusted annual wage by creating a new variable using this formula:

\(adjusted salary = (mean Annual Salary(1 + 1-cost Of Living Index/100))\)

Conclusions

Limitations

References

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, April 27). Tables created by BLS. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved March 21, 2024 from https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

Karol Łukaszczyk. (June 2023). Cost of living in State in USA - MERIC (adapted from Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s Cost of Living Data Series), Version 1. Retrieved March 21, 2024 from https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/lukkardata/cost-of-living-missouri-economic-research.

Link to the code for this analysis: https://github.com/LyndsayM/salaries